Systematic review of the correlates of outdoor play and time among children aged 3-12 years

Abstract

Background: Due to the myriad of benefits of children's outdoor play and time, there is increasing concern over its decline. This systematic review synthesized evidence on the correlates of outdoor play and outdoor time among children aged 3-12 years.

Methods: A total of 12 electronic databases in five different languages (Chinese, English, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese) were searched between October 28, 2019 and July 27, 2020. Covidence software was used for screening and Microsoft Excel with a predesigned coding form was used for data extraction. Evidence was synthesized and correlates were categorized using the socioecological model framework.

Results: Based on 107 studies representing 188,498 participants and 422 childcare centers from 29 countries, 85 studies examined potential correlates of outdoor play while 23 studies examined that of outdoor time (one examined both). The duration of outdoor play and outdoor time ranged between 60 and 165 min/d and 42-240 min/d, respectively. Out of 287 (outdoor play) and 61 (outdoor time) potential correlates examined, 111 correlates for outdoor play and 33 correlates for outdoor time were identified as significant correlates. Thirty-three variables were identified as key/common correlates of outdoor play/time, including eight correlates at the individual level (e.g., sex/gender, race/ethnicity, physical activity), 10 correlates at the parental level (e.g., parental attitude/support/behavior, parenting practice), nine at the microsystem level (e.g., proximal home/social environment such as residence type, peer influence), three at the macrosystem/community level (e.g., availability of space children can play), and three at the physical ecology/pressure for macrosystem change level (e.g., seasonality, rurality). No key correlates were found at the institutional level.

Conclusions: Individual, parental, and proximal physical (home) and social environments appear to play a role in children's outdoor play and time. Ecological factors (i.e., seasonality, rurality) also appear to be related to outdoor play/time. Evidence was either inconsistent or lacking at institutional and macrosystem/community levels. Standardizing terminology and measures of outdoor play/time is warranted. Future work should investigate the interactions and processes of multiple variables across different levels of socioecological modelling to better understand the mechanisms through which outdoor play/time opportunities can be optimized for children while paying special attention to varying conditions in which children are born, live, and play.

Keywords: Family; Outdoor; Parent; Physical activity; Socio-ecological modelling.

Fig. 1

PRISMA flow diagram

Fig. 2

Correlates of outdoor play/time within the socioecological modelling framework. Note: Only evidence based on ≥ 2 observations were included in this model. Strong association is indicated in double ‘ ++ ’ or ‘ −− ’. Common correlates of outdoor play and outdoor time are in bold. ^OT Correlate for outdoor time only; correlate for outdoor play only if not indicated. ^a Physical activity included active travel (n = 1), structured exercise sport (n = 1), regular play (n = 1), and dog walking (n = 1). ^b Temperament included surgency/extraversion (boys and girls) and negative affectivity (boys only). ^c Hyper-parenting included little emperor (n = 1), tiger mom (n = 1) and concerted cultivation (n = 1). ^d Constraint parenting included avoidance (n = 1) and defensive parenting (n = 1). ^e Parental attitude included attitude towards nature (n = 1), attitude toward recreation (n = 1), attitude towards child’s physical activity (n = 1), and attitude towards walking (n = 1). ^f Parental concerns included concerns towards child’s outdoor play (n = 1) and physical activity (n = 1). ^g Parental behavior included outdoor activity (n = 1), frequency of walking (n = 2), frequency of organized sport (n = 2), and overall PA (n = 3). ^h Parental support included co-participation (n = 3), encouragement (n = 3), proving instrumental support (n = 2), and modelling (n = 2). ⁱ Peer influence included a number of regular playmates (n = 1), peer support (n = 1), and peer modeling (n = 1). ^j Other support included having play space at friend’s or relative’s house (n = 1), support/reinforcement from adults other than parents (n – 1), social support (n = 1), and social capital on obesity and child’s physical activity (n = 1). ^k Residential building characteristics included living in a building with outdoor space (n = 1) and living in a neighborhood with dead-end (n = 1). IM: Independent mobility; OP: Outdoor play; OT: Outdoor time; PA: Physical activity